Posts tagged “Twiggy”

Mondays on Memory Lane: Richard Skipper weaves a magical evening with Tommy Tune – On Thursday night, May 23rd, 2013, Richard Skipper hosted an extraordinary evening of intimate conversation with nine time Tony winner Tommy Tune at Queensborough Community College. The evening was a rare privilege for all. First and foremost for Richard, since it was Tommy himself who had requested him for the interview. Secondly for all of us lucky enough to be in the audience. To see this talented icon of Broadway theater open up to Richard’s questions and reminisce freely was an exciting treat. We’ve all seen Tommy Tune dance and perform, but a shared moment like this is irreplaceable. Richard knows his theater history, combined with both their friendships with legend Carol Channing – their bond made for an insightful conversation. Tommy shared lessons learned from luminaries such as Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Carol, Michael Bennett, Lucie Arnaz, Honey Coles and his perfect pairing with Twiggy in the film “The Boyfriend” and the hit Broadway show “My One and Only”.

Tommy Tune reflects

Tommy Tune doing the letter “H” from the song “You Gotta Have Heart”

At age 74, Tommy has a youthful energy that comes from the love of his craft. He simply radiates joy. The audience was riveted by the insight and advice Tommy gave, many times reinforcing that our own uniqueness should drive our determination to forge forward and take chances and leaps of faith. Richard steered the ‘conversation’ masterfully. In ending the evening Richard with his usual warm charm, asked the audience to participate in asking questions of Tommy which added to the bond that had been created with both Tommy’s and Richard’s fans. It was an evening not to be forgotten, thank you Richard!

Whitney Kropp is a Detroit, Michigan high school girl who the bullies in school nominated and voted to be homecoming queen so they could harass her. It didn’t quite turn out the way the mean girls planned . . .

She received support from around the world, got world coverage and her whole prom was paid for. The ‘Support Whitney’ Facebook page exploded overnight and her prom had a happy ending. Here is my letter to her:

Greetings from New ♥ York City! The big apple sends it’s support. Gee…you look like most any other girl on the streets here, maybe because people here in NYC appreciate cool individuality = like yours! Remember . . . NO ONE remembers all the blonde Barbie dolls parading in music videos, proms and red carpets – it’s the INDIVIDUALS who stand out. Cher = crooked nose, too tall, jet black dark hair in an era of 1960’s blonde beach surfer girls. Tina Turner = abused now a super star, Streisand – said her nose was too big, now everyone copies her style. Bette Midler – no, no one looked like her, now she’s a billionaire. Actress’s Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn all had odd mannerisms. Twiggy was too skinny = became supermodel. Blondie/Debbie Harry and Patti Smith were considered freaks, now pioneers of music. So Whitney, you may say “these are all such old school examples., no one currently cool.” EXACTLY! They thrived and lasted because . . . THEY WERE DIFFERENT ! ! ! Whitney, don’t change a thing about yourself. The world loves individuality, small minded, backwoods people…are afraid of it = you got power girl! GO OUT AND TAKE THE WORLD…it’s your’s ♥